“for reasons which remain unconfirmed, but may include changing times or war, many buddhist scriptures and paintings, musical instruments used in buddhist ceremonies and other religious, and social documents were concealed in cave 17 in the early 11th century. more than 50,000 cultural relics were hidden in this cave. a wall was built to seal the entrance and was decorated with mural paintings to cover it up. as a result, the library cave was concealed in the desert for over nine centuries.”